It’s not just all fun and games

The switch from Taboo to Name that tune

Grace Huff, Profiles Editor

 

For many of students at the main building, freshman year advisory carried many memories, one of those being the infamous game of Taboo. Advisory classes would go head to head in the ultimate tournament to try to win the game, bringing out the most competitive side in all of us, which can lead to added, unnecessary pressures. Senior and current advisor Carson Gentry recalls his  freshman year, saying that “a lot of kids don’t really like [Taboo] because you’re on the spot a lot, so really only the kids that like to participate a lot get into it.”

Although this competitiveness can be seen as a good thing for students, it began to get out of hand. Kaiser Minhas, a teacher on of the advisory board, went into detail about how the problems in Taboo are not just an overnight thing; the problems have been going on for years. Minhas has been a part of the program for nearly a decade, and he first started seeing problems six years ago when a  trend of small incidences began taking place each year. Counteracting the intended team building qualities, the game of Taboo started having “the adverse effect at times, not in every advisory, but at times it got so hyper competitive that opposing freshman were actually angry at one another.”

This is not to say the advisory board wanted to diminish the sense of competition among the students, but instead “rebrand” and take away the pressure that some kids feel during the tournament. They wanted to teach the students that “you are going to fail in life, but it is really important to learn how you will bounce back from that.” Minhas feels that within Taboo or Name that Tune, students will fall short sometimes, but it is important to learn how to grow from that. This has allowed the advisory team to create a more positive environment for everyone.

Despite all the toxicity the Taboo tournament seemed to bring, Minhas mentioned all the good that came out of it.  “There were so many examples of great bond and great sportsmanship.” However, it ultimately came to point where the problems that happened in the past did not seem like they were going to negate  the cons while outweighing the pros.

Gentry, gave more of an insight into the Name that Tune tournament, saying that the new game has “a lot less pressure because if you don’t get it, it’s whatever, move on the next one, but when you’re up there for taboo if you don’t get one of the words, all eyes are on you.” The lessened pressure seems to create a more positive environment for both the senior advisors and the freshman students by making it more of a volunteer based game, so if a student is up there, it was by choice. Also in Taboo, if a team were to mess up they were penalized with point deductions, but in Name that Tune, a team cannot lose points; they can only gain points. Gentry says that, with Name that Tune, “there’s a chance for everybody to get [the song],” which he says has created a genuine excitement for the students while playing.